Cyclist: Mavic has been one of the biggest names in cycling for 125 years and the French continue to try to reinvent the wheel. Insights are rarely granted - one of the few exceptions was made for our partner magazine Cyclist.
Text James Witts / photos Fred MacGregor
Mavic is as much a part of the Tour de France as trident-wielding devils, angry French cops and Dutch fans in Alpe d'Huez. Mavic's Service des Courses - these bright yellow bikes with the spare wheels on the back - are the public face of the French company, which celebrated its 2014th anniversary in 125.
During this time, Mavic has had a pretty strong influence on the racing scene and given new impetus. For example, there was the use of system wheels when it was still common for rims, spokes and hubs to be manufactured and assembled separately. Mavic was one of the first to produce wheels with carbon parts, aero wheels and electronic shifting, and their wheels were spotted on the Garmin, Cofidis and Katusha racing bikes in 2014.
Mavic couldn't fit the French cliché any more if it wore a beret and walked around with a baguette under its arm. So I'm a bit disappointed when I arrive at the company's French headquarters to find that the carbon wheels are made somewhere else - in Romania.
"However, our aluminum rims are produced in Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans and our R&D department is in Annecy, where we also carry out the tests on the prototypes", explains Michel Lethenet, a former mountain bike journalist who now runs Mavic's PR department. "That's where I'm taking you now..."
At headquarters
Mavic's headquarters is unlike any bike manufacturer's facility I've ever seen. This is partly due to the mannequins in the entrance area, which are used to directly present the products. "We belong to the Finnish sporting goods manufacturer Amer Sports", says Lethenet. "Our group also includes Salomon and brands like Wilson and Suunto."
“Non autorisé” is what Lethenet usually says when I peek inside rooms in search of new products or future-oriented test suites, or curiously walk down the corridors that branch off the lobby.
“Privacy is important. Technology and patents are important”, explains Lethenet. “When we develop something new and patent it, it is important that all the innovations that underlie the product are preserved. After all, our innovations are not marketing gags.”
When it comes to its clothing and footwear offerings, Mavic is a lot more open. There is a separate department for this. Working with technical fabrics, Lethenet emphasizes the advantages that Mavic has due to the collaboration with Salomon in the production of functional sportswear.
But we're not here to look at kits. For most riders, the Mavic name means one thing above all else: wheels.
"Okay, if you're ready for some history, then let's go to the service of the course site", says Lethenet. "And yes, you can take photos."
The service of the course
C'est formidable. At Mavic headquarters, you'll find every road cyclist's dream. This is where Mavic trains its teams for the neutral mechanical track service that has been provided for the classics and stage races for the past 40 years. In 1972, a team manager's car broke down while following the peloton at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Mavic chairman Bruno Gormand lent the unlucky guy his own car and an idea was born. A year later, Mavic Paris-Nice officially offered its neutral track service. Since then, the company has accompanied drivers and races.
"In 2014 we were involved in 89 events - pros, amateurs, road and mountain bike", tells Lethenet. “The Tour de France is of course very important, but the most demanding race is Paris-Roubaix, where we are there with 17 people. That makes four cars, four motorcycles, a truck and 120 pairs of wheels. Tony over there can change a wheel in less than 15 seconds. No problem." I look through the window at Tony, who is busy washing a Skoda. The windows in the room are decorated with route maps from past races and posters of cycling legends. I half expect to see Karsten Migels walk in, but this isn't a sitcom, it's Tony's day-to-day work. And he's been doing it for 30 years.
"Things have changed", he says. “In a race like Roubaix, the riders use ever wider rims, now up to 28mm. This race is something special because the tires are only pressured at five bars.”
We leave the Service des Courses area and drive the 150 kilometers to the alloy wheel factory in Saint-Trivier. When we arrive, we see several machines on which prototypes are being worked. Water and mud splash around. "Here we test for corrosion and sealing", explains Lethenet. "I can not say more."
The core
Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans is about 50 kilometers north of Lyon and can look back on a great cycling tradition, as well-known races have already been welcomed. In 2012, the fifth stage of the Dauphiné started here; Paris-Nice was a guest in 1977, the Tour de France followed a few months later. That day, Dutchman Gerrie Knetemann won the race, but Bernard Thevenet took overall victory. It was the second of his two Tour de France triumphs.
The factory is like a glimpse into the past - which is not surprising, since rims have been produced here since 1966. Before Mavic outsourced much of the production to Romania and Asia, 65% of all bicycle rims in the world were made here.
“Around 90% of our aluminum rims are made here”, reports Lethenet. "The remaining 10% - mainly entry-level models - come from the Far East."
About 70 employees work in this large hall, which is filled with shelves from the concrete floor to the corrugated iron roof. A closer look reveals that these industrial shelves are made of six-meter-long aluminum struts that are profiled like Mavic's special rim design. Mavic can claim to have perfected rim profiling since collaborating with Michelin in 1975 to develop the hooked rim for their Elan tires, which is now the standard for clincher tires.
It's impressive how the aluminum is cut into a round shape and bent by a machine. "It is always cut three at a time and it is important to note that the diameter decreases when the rim is welded", says Lethenet.
The two ends are then welded together. While entry-level models from Mavic, such as the Aksium rims, are conventionally welded with wire, the higher-quality models with the SUP (Soudé Usine Process) label are welded in like a wedge that corresponds to the profile of the rim, so that the shape of the rim is maintained even at high temperatures preserved. Deburring removes edges and frays, ensuring a smooth ride and safe braking.
The milling of the rims is very impressive. Precision drilling and grinding machines cut notches into the spaces in the rim wall between the spoke holes to save weight. “This can reduce weight by up to 10%”, reports Lethenet. Mavic called the first rims of this type 2D, the next generation was called 3D and for 2015 – you guessed it – 4D is planned.
“With the 4D rims, everything is rounded, not only between the spokes but also the edges. We will use them on the 2015 R-Sys SLR. They will reduce inertia, making these wheels perfect for climbing. Braking is also better than previous models because we use our Exalith 2 technology [which improves braking performance].”
write history
In 1889, brothers Léon and Laurent Vielle founded a nickel plating company under the brand name AVA. Soon, two AVA employees, Charles Idoux and Lucien Chanel, ventured into manufacturing and selling spare parts for the nascent sport of cycling. Both companies had the same president, Henry Gormand, and he helped launch the new brand called Manufacture de Articles pour Velocipedes Idoux & Chanel – or Mavic for short.
Their business model was based on the discovery of the cycling benefits of duralumin, an aluminum and copper alloy that enjoyed great popularity in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in the construction of airships. In the case of Mavic, duralumin played a hidden role in Antonin Magne's 1934 Tour de France victory.
Ever since Maurice Garin won the first tour in 1903, drivers have relied on heavy wooden rims. In 1934, Mavic developed the first duralumin rims. To protect them from the prying eyes of the competition, they were painted to look like wood. Mavic called his invention Dura rims - they weighed only 750 grams instead of 1,2 kilos like the wooden rims of the competition.
A year later, the public heard about these rims for the first time – under dramatic circumstances. Spanish rider Francisco Cepeda died in an accident on the Col du Galibier - he was using the Dura rims. Mavic had to listen to many allegations, but an investigation found that the poor workmanship of the frame was responsible for the accident. Nevertheless, Mavic was now in the headlines – and not exactly in a good way.
But not all of Mavic's inventions were resounding successes. In 1992, 16 years before Shimano launched its Di2, Mavic designed the first electronic drivetrain, the Zap Mavic System (ZMS).
But despite some advantages – the circuit required only a small battery – the model failed to gain acceptance due to a lack of reliability and slow switching, and was withdrawn from the market in 1994. A second attempt 1999 with the wireless Mektronic failed. “Maybe we were too early”, says Lethenet. "The scene is quite conservative and is rather skeptical about new technologies, even today electronic shifting is not yet standard." But you can't blame Mavic for not trying. “We are currently researching new materials”, reveals Lethenet. What are these materials? We can't write anything about that. "Non autorisé", as they say at Mavic.
The unabridged story and many more photos can be found in the current issue of Cyclist am Kiosk.